Note 1 — BOOK II.

"Hic innocentis pocula Lesbii Duces sub umbrâ; nec Semeleïus Cum Marte confundet Thyoneus Prœlia."—Hor. I. Od. xvii. 21.

"The Lesbian wine would seem to have possessed a delicious flavour; for it is said to have deserved the name of Ambrosia rather than of wine, and to have been like nectar when old. In Athenæus this wine is called οἰνάριον, vinulum, 'the little wine,' to which Bacchus gave ἀτέλειαν, an innocence and immunity from drunkenness. Horace terms the Lesbian an innocent or unintoxicating wine; but it was the prevailing opinion among the ancients, that all sweet wines were less injurious to the head, and less apt to cause intoxication, than strong dry wines. By Pliny, however, the growths of Chios and Thasos are placed before the Lesbian, which he affirms had naturally a saltish taste."—Henderson's Hist. of Ancient and Modern Wines, p. 77.